Where should I print my pictures?

I get asked this question alot.

My answer:  It depends on what you're using the pictures for.

I know most professional photographers will say to only get your photos printed at a professional lab.  The only time I disagree with this, is based on your answer to the question, what are you using the pictures for?

If I am printing pictures 5x7 or smaller and they are intended for an album, like Project Life, I print my photos at Costco (if I want a white border around them or if I need them quickly).

Keep in mind when printing anywhere, what you see on your screen isn't necessarily what you get from the printer (unless your monitor is calibrated to that specific printer).  I have learned that Costco prints tend to be a little "dark".  So before I send them to Costco I lighten them up a little (bump up the exposure).  All of the photos in this wall collage I did are from Costco.

OR I print my 4x6 photos at York Photo online.  If you google "free 4x6 prints" a code for 100 free prints to york photo should pop up.  You can use that the first time you order prints from them.  They also have sales on their prints all the time so I have a folder on my desktop with pictures I want to print and I wait until there is a sale and then send a batch of those pictures in to be printed.

If I am printing bigger than 5x7 or printing anything large that will be hung on my walls, I use Pixels Foto and Frame (for the Utah readers, it's on 90th S. and State Street in Sandy) or online I use Mpix.  These are both professional printing labs with affordable prices.  And their customer service is killer!!

I use pixels for regular prints (they'll do custom sizes which I love to do) and I also use them for matboard prints like this one:

Mpix has a bunch of novelty photo items like calendars and photo books and cards along with regular prints.  I also use them for printing stickers and business cards.

Any photos I print I use a matte or lustre finish instead of glossy.  Makes them look better in my opinion.

If you have never printed somewhere before and don't know what the prints will end up looking like, just send a few photos to be printed.  Then if you like how they look, you can send a bigger batch for prints.

I have also printed at Persnickety Prints in Orem, UT.  They do printing for Instagram pics (square photos) as well as Project Life album sizes (3x4's).  I also love their polaroid type prints.  Hoping to get a lot of those for a wall display I have in mind.  The printers at Persnickety have a different color than what I see on my monitor, so if you plan to print there, do a "test" print first to make sure it looks the way you want it to.  (For anyone who cares, my monitor reads an RGB color space, and persnickety does heavy stock prints which are CMYK color space.  Different from photographic prints which are RGB)  Regardless, the prints still look awesome!  I'm sure I'll be posting more about Persnickety in the future.  Killer customer service and response time!

I personally would never print at Walmart.  For anything.